Candice Wiggins' extraordinary physical gifts have been apparent since she was 6 years old. As a first-grader, she scored 30 points a game on a team with third- and fourth-graders. By the fifth grade, she had to play on boys teams to keep a competitive pace.

Yet for all the days she has stood out on the basketball court, from childhood feats through high school achievements, Wiggins' humility is as clear as her confidence.

She got chills the first time she put on her Stanford uniform Thursday night and talked with unabashed openness about the thrill and honor of playing in an exhibition game.

Wiggins knows talent can't be taken for granted. A father she barely remembers reinforces that lesson every day by his absence.

Alan Wiggins was a second baseman and leadoff hitter for the San Diego Padres' team that played in the 1984 World Series, and he set a club record with 70 stolen bases. He died in 1991 at age 32 from complications of AIDS after years of drug addiction.

Candice was 4 when her father died. What she lacks in memories of him, she has gained from the stories and insights of people who knew him, everyone from family and friends to a stranger in the airport who recognized her and filled her ear about his memories of that 1984 Padres season.

Hearing about her father's life isn't a source of pain. She invites all comments.

"He's like a mythical figure to me," Wiggins said. "I am happy when people talk about him. It is interesting, what people say, and I'm just happy that people remember him."

That is Wiggins' essence. She invites it all.

She invites the avalanche of attention she has received not only as Alan Wiggins' daughter but for her accomplishments as one of the top high school athletes in the nation, excelling in basketball, volleyball and track at La Jolla Country Day School.

She invites the expectations that she just might be the most athletic player ever to play for coach Tara VanDerveer at Stanford, and that at 17, she will be the storied program's new star.

She invites the challenge to better herself every day on the court.

"She lets her talent speak for itself," said her mother, Angela Wiggins. "And when you see her play, you can see why."

It doesn't take long.

Less than 15 seconds after Stanford tipped off its exhibition at Santa Clara's Leavey Center, Wiggins was streaking to the basket past a defender, taking a pass from Sebnem Kimyacioglu and making a layup for the first basket of the game. Later, Wiggins deflected a pass on the wing that was headed out of bounds. An opponent went to the sideline for the save, which Wiggins quickly dashed to intercept, picking the ball out of the air for a steal.

The Stanford crowd erupted, and everyone on the Cardinal bench simply smiled. Her teammates already know. Wiggins' presence has ratcheted up the intensity level of practice this season.

"She plays with an electricity," VanDerveer said. "She's extremely competitive. She'll motor over somebody, but it's nothing personal. I think she's going to be the type of player who will make other people better because they see how hard she's going."

Wiggins said she knows no other way.

"I can't always control how good my shot is, or how on it is, but I can always control how hard I work, so that's my main emphasis," Wiggins said.

She comes to Stanford following a season in which the Cardinal rose back to national prominence, reaching the Elite Eight at the Midwest Regional in Norman, Okla., while Wiggins was down the road in Oklahoma City preparing for the McDonald's High School All-America Game.

She arrives following the departure of three-time All-America Nicole Powell, who became the centerpiece of nearly everything Stanford accomplished over four years.

Wiggins might end up replacing Powell as the team's marquee talent, a prospect she calls "very flattering", but she is a different player.

At 5-foot-11, Wiggins has long arms, long legs, explosive speed and perpetual energy. She is a tenacious defender and her offensive game is characterized by her slashing drives to the basket, blowing past even well- positioned defenders.

"I love her and I love her game," said Colorado coach Ceal Barry, who coached Wiggins in the summer on the U.S. Junior National team, which had a 5- 0 record in the World Championship qualifying tournament. "She brought heart and intensity every day, and that's hard to do in July. She's a kid (who) wants to do the right thing for the team."

Those who know her best aren't concerned whether she will transition successfully to the college game.

"She is as prepared to play at the next level as any high school kid could be," said Terri Bamford, Wiggins' coach at La Jolla Country Day, which she led to four Division V state championship games. "She is always positive. Nothing is ever somebody else's fault. She stays very humble. She feels like there is always somebody out there working harder than her, somebody that's better than her, and it drives her."

Her brother Alan Jr., a sophomore forward on the USF men's team, has known his younger sister had game for a long time. Alan and Candice were on the same AAU team when Candice was in seventh grade. Candice started, and Alan came off the bench.

"I didn't have a problem with it," Alan said. "She was the best point guard we had."

Candice believes her father would be thrilled by her athletic success.

"In some kind of way, he's with her every day, on the court, when she's doing all things," Angela Wiggins said. "When she hears about him, I think it triggers something in her, it connects her to her father."

Candice Wiggins file

Position: Guard

Height: 5-foot-11

Hometown: Poway (San Diego County)

High school: La Jolla Country Day

Recent history: Named Ms. California Basketball; averaged 30.8 points, 11. 5 rebounds, 6.3 steals a game as a senior; averaged 15.2 points a game for U.S. junior national team in summer.